by Matthew S. Bajko

August is shaping up to be a hot political month as local
candidates must meet filing deadlines and the endorsement battles for San
Francisco races are heating up.

Two out supervisor candidates, in particular, face
considerable odds as they hit the campaign trail. Incumbent District 5
Supervisor Christina Olague, a bisexual
Latina appointed earlier this year to represent the left-leaning district, has
drawn criticism from progressives in recent weeks upset with her stances on a
host of issues.

In the race for the open District 7 seat, where incumbent
Supervisor Sean Elsbernd is termed out
of office, political newcomer Joel Engardio
is learning that being gay does not guarantee
support from LGBT electeds or politicos. So far the only out politician to
endorse Engardio is gay District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener
, who also endorsed one of his opponents, Mike
Garcia.

Olague has had an easier go of it in attracting out
endorsers. Her list of supporters includes gay state Senator Mark Leno
(D-San Francisco), whom she marched with in the
Pride Parade; gay District 9 Supervisor David Campos
, who appears headed to an easy re-election win this
November; and city Treasurer Jose Cisneros.

While she has attracted progressive endorsers, such as
Campos and Public Defender Jeff Adachi,
Olague has seen former D5 Supervisor Matt Gonzalez
recently withdraw his initial backing of her and
gay state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano
(D-San Francisco) endorse one of her opponents, John Rizzo
, a member of the community college board.

Ammiano told the Bay Area Reporter
this week he is open to making additional
endorsements in the D5 race and is expected to meet soon with Olague.

"I have known John for a long time. I have trust that
he will vote in a manner that will be consistent," he said of his early
backing for Rizzo. "Sometimes it gets troubling when candidates, even
colleagues, might go back and forth on an issue."

In the D7 race Ammiano has given unranked endorsements to
Port Commissioner Francis "FX
" Crowley and Norman Yee,
president of the city's school board. He has not ruled out endorsing a third
candidate.

"Whether or not I do another one is to be
determined," said Ammiano, who has spoken to Engardio a few times at
public events but has not formally met with him to discuss his candidacy.

In an email and a phone interview last week with the B.A.R.
Engardio expressed frustration in not being able to
line up more support from the city's LGBT elected family. While he has spoken
to Campos, Cisneros, and Leno, as well as mayoral aide and former supervisor Bevan
Dufty, none have offered him a formal endorsement.

"While I understand an election should be based on
merit and not sexual orientation, as a gay man it's sad to see what seems to be
a lack of support for our LGBT candidates by our LGBT Leaders," wrote
Engardio, a former journalist who has devoted his full attention this year to
running for public office.

The first out candidate to seek a supervisor seat in the
city's more conservative neighborhoods, Engardio has secured the endorsement of
the national Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. He noted the group does not support
candidates it thinks can't win.

"I was able to show them my plan to win. I was also
able to show that even in San Francisco, there is new ground to pioneer for
LGBT candidates in a district where an openly candidate has never won the seat
before," wrote Engardio, who has qualified for city matching funds and
expects to have $70,000 in campaign cash on hand as of mid-August.

Ammiano told the B.A.R.
that Engardio's griping sounds "a little self-serving." Nowadays LGBT
candidates should not automatically assume they have a lock on the LGBT vote,
he added.

"I think there was a time where to have anybody openly
gay was a good thing for visibility. I also think a more sophisticated approach
is more appropriate now," said Ammiano, who saw how divided the LGBT
community can be when he ran for mayor in 1999 and again in 2003. "You don't
want to endorse someone based on orientation, there could be quite a few
positions you are divergent on. It doesn't have to be uncivil but it has to be
expected."

In a phone interview Engardio said he isn't surprised at his
inability to land more political endorsers, as "politicians gravitate to
those they know." He said he has attracted the support of many gay and
lesbian couples that have moved into the district to raise families.

"We had good talks," he said of his conversations
with those electeds he has spoken with so far. "So I don't expect
anything. They saw a gay candidate and reached out and gave good advice. To be
honest, they should endorse whoever is the best candidate, not just someone who
is gay."

His disappointment may continue, though, when it comes to
whom the city's LGBT Democratic clubs endorse. In fact, both Olague and
Engardio can expect stiff competition from several straight opponents also
expected to seek the support of the city's two main LGBT Democratic Clubs.

Unlike during the 2010 election, when the even-numbered
supervisor seats were up for grabs, neither the moderate Alice B. Toklas nor
the more progressive Harvey Milk opted to suspend their by-laws and grant early
endorsements in this year's election.

Instead, the two clubs' members will be voting in coming
weeks to endorse one of the 11 people who have pulled papers, so far, to seek
Olague's Haight and Western Addition centered seat, and must choose among the
eight candidates running for Elsbernd's seat covering neighborhoods west of Twin
Peaks.

"I think we have an awful lot of strong
candidates," said Alice Co-Chair Martha Knutzen
when asked to handicap the competition for the
club's endorsement in the D5 and D7 races.

Candidates have until Friday, August 10 to turn in the
required paperwork to seek the odd-numbered supervisor seats and the city's two
BART board seats. There are also four seats up for grabs on both the school and
community college boards.

One week later Alice will kick off its endorsement process.
The club's political action committee will meet Saturday, August 18 to make its
recommendations.

The full club is expected to then vote Monday, August 20. A
candidate for one of the six supervisor seats on the fall ballot needs to
receive 66 percent of the vote to secure a sole endorsement in their race.

In contests where there is no clear favorite, then the club
will re-vote on making ranked choice endorsements in those races. Under San
Francisco's voting system, voters can rank up to three candidates in the
supervisor races.

Asked specifically about Olague and Engardio's ability to
secure an Alice nod, Knutzen said this week that she believes "they both
have a good chance at it, especially if we are doing ranked choice
endorsements."

Their being members of the LGBT community will certainly
play a factor, added Knutzen, though that does not guarantee a candidate an
Alice endorsement.

"People will definitely look at their candidacy and
evaluate them," she said. "The kind of candidate we look at we look
for experience in politics and very strong support of the LGBT community. We
also look at the viability of their campaign and their ability to build
coalitions."

The Milk Club is hosting debates with candidates in the D5
and D7 races before its members vote in mid-September on whom to endorse for
either seat. With Engardio a self-identified moderate, and Olague's ties to
Mayor Ed Lee, neither is assured of
winning the Milk Club's support.

"Honestly, I don't know," said Milk club president
Glendon Hyde, also known by his drag
name Anna Conda, when asked whom
the club was likely to back in those races. "There isn't really someone
the club feels is echoing their sentiments at this time."

Tuesday, August 14 the Milk Club is hosting a debate with D5
candidates. It will grill D7 candidates Tuesday, September 4. Both debates take
place from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Eric Quezada Center, 518 Valencia Street in the
Mission.

The Milk club's PAC will then meet over the weekend of
September 15-16 to make its recommendations. The full club will finalize the
endorsements Tuesday, September 18.

The club revamped its endorsement process this year to
address how to rank candidates in races where voters can choose up to three
people, such as supervisor and mayor. Members must score the candidates on a
scale of one through five, with five being the best score.

To be endorsed candidates have to receive 60 percent of the
vote. If more than one person reaches that threshold, then they will be ranked
first, second or third based on the scoring system.

Due to her ties to Lee, whom she pushed to run for a full
term last year and was then rewarded with the supervisorial appointment, Olague
likely has a better shot at gaining Alice's endorsement than she does the Milk
Club's, where Rizzo has been gaining traction.

In the D7 race Yee is the one to watch at Milk, while Garcia,
president of the city's Board of Appeals, could walk away with Alice's nod.

It isn't out of the question for both clubs to name a
straight candidate as their number one choice in both races. Last year neither
Alice nor Milk endorsed a gay candidate as their top choice for mayor.

At this point the only gay supervisorial candidate likely
assured endorsements from both clubs is Campos, as he has not drawn any serious
challengers.

Next Thursday, August 9 Campos will officially launch his
re-election bid with a party from 6 to 8 p.m. at 780 Cafe, located at 780
Valencia Street.